Cribs

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  Messages

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  Renter view of apartment listings

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  It's a match!

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  Landlord view of renter profile

Inspiration

We've all experienced the pains of being a student renter and struggling to find viable housing opportunities in time for the school term. Difficulty in finding feasible short-term housing only adds to the stress of being a full-time student. We saw an opportunity to bring the simplicity of a swipe-based dating app - like Tinder - into local apartment hunting. Swipe, match, and move in with Cribs!

What it does

Cribs transforms the apartment search process into a easy and enjoyable experience for both renters and landlords. Combining the ease of a swipe-based interface with advanced filtering and location-based recommendations. Renters create a profile with preferences like location, budget, size, and apartment features, and the app presents a curated selection of listings tailored to those needs. Users can swipe right to save an apartment they're interested in or swipe left to skip, narrowing down options as fast as a swipe. Each listing includes photos, amenities, essential details, and a map view, making it easy for renters to find their perfect match.

Cribs is also designed with landlords in mind. Landlords can view renter profiles and swipe through prospective tenants, helping them find the right match. This two-sided swiping model brings a level of transparency and efficiency to both parties, allowing renters to find secure homes faster while giving landlords tools in meeting quality tenants. With Cribs, finding your next apartment is as easy as a swipe.

How we built it

To bring Cribs to life, we started by designing a detailed, interactive prototype in Figma. This prototype allowed us to visualize every component and feature we wanted to include, from the renter and landlord profiles, to the swiping interface and filtering options. With Figma's design tools, we crafted a user-friendly layout that aimed to ease the apartment search process. For the technical side, we chose Django for the backend to handle data, user profiles, and property listing. For the frontend, we utilized React to bring our prototype to life through a live server. We were able to build a simplified version of our renter-side experience, allowing users to swipe through potential listings in a Tinder-like fashion.

Challenges we ran into

Building Cribs was an exciting and fulfilling project, but we ran into many challenges along the way. First, translating our detailed Figma prototype into functional code was harder than expected. We had designed every component and interaction on Figma, but when it came time to implement these into our code, we realized that some elements needed to be simplified to fit within the timeline and technical constraints.

One of the biggest challenges we ran into was integrating the landlord side of the app. We envisioned a two sided experience, however, due to the time constraint, we focused on building the renter side first.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Through these challenges we're incredibly proud of what we accomplished with Cribs. First, our Figma prototype was a major milestone. We invested a lot of time and creativity in designing every component to create an intuitive user experience.

Implementing our swipe functionality was another big win for us. Translating the dating app inspired interaction into a functional feature took a lot of planning, and we're thrilled that we created a working swipe interface on the renter side that feels natural and responsive.

We're also proud of how we managed the backend using Django, a brand new framework for our team. This is essential for Cribs' future and we're excited to implement a solid backend in place to build upon.

What we learned

Building Cribs was a hands-on experience that taught us a lot about app development, workflows, and project management. Starting with Figma, we learned how valuable a well-structured prototype is for planning.

On the technical side, Django and React taught us how to navigate development with two powerful frameworks. We gained a deeper understanding of how the backend and frontend communicate and how to structure data flows to keep everything responsive and in sync.

What's next for Cribs

Looking ahead, we have an exciting plan for Cribs. Our immediate goal is to expand the app by fully implementing the renter side alongside integrating the landlord side of Cribs. This will complete Cribs' two-sided experience, bringing a mutually beneficial tool to both renters and landlords, creating a streamlined process for apartment hunting.

Next, we’ll focus on enhancing data persistence. We want to give users the ability to save their swipe history, enabling them to revisit listings or renter profiles they liked and track any new matches. This will require adding a layer to store user interactions, as well as building out notification features for updates on new matches or similar listings.

In terms of user experience, we’re aiming to refine our design based on initial feedback. We plan to introduce advanced filters, location-based recommendations, and search tools to further personalize the renter experience.

Ultimately, our vision is to make Cribs the go-to platform for fast, effortless apartment hunting. We’re excited to continue building on what we’ve achieved and bring our full concept to life!

Built With

• django
• figma
• react